Boss pretends to rob employee in order to teach her a lesson, she bursts out crying.
'AITA for teaching a co-worker a lesson by tricking her?'
Zealousidea2023
I (21M) work at a restaurant franchise. I am the assistant manager and answer to the store manager. We have a couple new shift managers who have recently completed management training. Our newest shift manager, Megan (19F), has been doing really well except for one misstep that keeps happening.
Until we undergo a remodel (which can't come soon enough), our safe where we keep the cash registers and our deposits throughout the day is located behind the front counter where customers order and pick up.
It's behind a swinging door and two cabinet doors that cannot be locked. Bev has a habit of leaving the safe door open while she's swapping cash drawers, etc. She will sometimes be away from it for up to a minute at a time.
I've patiently told her why that's not okay and have even given her written warnings (which our store manager eventually sees), but it continues to happen. Not every shift but enough for it to be concerning.
Earlier this week it happened again. I found the safe wide open. While Megan was out of eyesight, I took our deposit bag and locked it in my locker. I was able to do this before she even came back to the safe.
She went about her business and led a good shift. But when it was time for the shift change, she noticed it was gone.
After looking for it, Megan was about to call the store manager and the police, per protocol for security issues. I stopped her as she was dialing the phone and told her I had the bag, then took her to my locker to retrieve it.
I told her to let this be a lesson because if I could take it without her noticing then anyone else could just as easily.
She was visibly upset. I validated her feelings as best as I could but told her she would be feeling much worse if it had actually been stolen.
Megan and a couple of coworkers who she is friends with are calling me an AH. I think this was an effective, albeit, blunt way to teach her to be more careful with the safe, but so far, according to the people who know it happened, I am in the minority with this opinion. So, what do you think? AITA?
Here were the top rated comments from readers:
1drisky1
NTA 👍
that was really little far but still good
Aggressive-Mind-2085
YTA.
If she had insisted to make that police call, you would be in prison now, a caught thief.
BarbieRedDvl87
NTA
It's a lesson she needs to learn.
I will point out that you call her Megan for the most part, however in the 2nd paragraph, line 3, word 18 you called her Bev. :)
Middle_Advisor_5979
NTA. She doesn't care because it's not her money and because she's not old enough to know better. If the nice warnings don't work you have to step it up, and this was better than firing her.
catskilkid
NTA. If telling them, writing them up and NOT FIRING them was not enough to learn a basic requirement, this was the next best thing.
If the money was stolen, its not like she would have had to repay it, and odds are, you and your Manager would look really bad having her still on staff, in a pre management position with written warnings on this very topic in her file. Let me guess, whoever thinks otherwise has no skin in the game, won't have to be responsible to repay, and can't get fired.
Tdluxon
NTA.
No harm done in the end and I bet she won't forget to lock the safe again.